Braking valve arrangements in hydrostatic drives operated in open circuit are intended to prevent the occurrence of incomplete filling of the hydraulic motor with pressure medium, which is preferably hydraulic oil. This is necessary, for example, if the rotational speed taken off from the hydraulic motor (or the stroke speed of an equivalent piston-cylinder unit for moving an end-use device) exceeds the respective rotational or linear speed (stroke speed) corresponding to the flow of pressure medium delivered by the hydraulic pump. Such an incomplete filling or increase in speed of this kind, which results in the hydraulic motor operating as a hydraulic pump, can, for example, occur in the thrust operation of a vehicle driven by the hydraulic motor, in particular when moving downhill with a braking load applied to the hydraulic motor or when reversing the direction of rotation of the hydraulic motor by means of the reversing directional control valve. The incomplete filling of the hydraulic motor with pressure medium referred to leads to undesirable cavitation. Furthermore a hydraulic motor without a braking valve arrangement of the kind mentioned, which must not be confused with a hydraulic operating brake of an end-use device, is not capable of slowing down this end-use device, for example the driven vehicle, gently.